A redundancy process should start with the business change the employer needs to make — not with the name of an employee it wants to remove.
The normal sequence is to define the proposal, identify the roles potentially affected, decide whether a selection pool and criteria are required, consult while the proposal can still be influenced, consider alternatives and suitable vacancies, reach a final decision and then deal with notice and payments.
Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal, but a genuine redundancy situation does not automatically make the eventual dismissal fair. The reason, selection and procedure all matter.
What is a redundancy situation?
Under the Employment Rights Act 1996, redundancy can arise where an employer closes or intends to close the business, closes a workplace, or where its requirement for employees to carry out work of a particular kind has ceased or diminished, or is expected to do so.
That means a restructure can create a genuine redundancy situation even where the business itself is continuing.
For example, an employer might reduce the number of managers, combine responsibilities across existing roles, automate part of an operation, close a department or change where particular work is carried out.
The important question is what has changed in the employer’s requirement for work or employees.
Redundancy should not be used simply because an employer has decided that it no longer wants a particular employee. Where the real issue is misconduct or poor performance, the appropriate disciplinary or capability process should normally be considered instead. Acas makes the same distinction when describing when redundancy is appropriate.
Where a proposed restructure is connected with the transfer of a business or service, employers should also consider whether TUPE applies. Our TUPE support for employers explains the separate issues that can arise in that situation.
Step 1 — Define the business proposal
Start by recording what the business is proposing to change and why.
That does not require a lengthy board paper for every redundancy exercise. It does require enough clarity to explain:
- what the current structure looks like;
- what problem or business objective is driving the proposed change;
- what the proposed future structure looks like;
- which roles may no longer be required, or may be required in reduced numbers;
- whether new or materially changed roles will be created; and
- what alternatives have already been considered.
The proposal might be driven by cost reduction, loss of work, technological change, duplication of roles, a site closure or a decision to reorganise how work is delivered.
What matters is that the explanation is genuine and capable of being understood.
Employers should also avoid describing the outcome as final at this stage. A business may have decided that change is necessary while still being open to consultation about how that change is achieved.
If the business is already planning a live exercise, Harrington Raine’s redundancy and restructuring support can help structure the proposal and the process before employee consultation begins.
Step 2 — Identify affected employees
Once the proposed structure is understood, identify which roles are potentially affected.
The starting point should ordinarily be the work and organisational structure rather than named individuals.
If an entire operation is closing and every employee doing that work is affected, identifying the group may be straightforward. If the employer needs three people to perform work currently undertaken by five, selection is likely to be required.
Employees whose roles may be affected should normally be told that they are at risk rather than that they have already been selected for redundancy. Acas recommends informing affected employees as soon as possible about the risk, the reasons for the proposal and the consultation process that will follow.
Step 3 — Decide the selection approach
Not every redundancy process requires a competitive selection exercise.
Where a genuinely unique role disappears completely, or an entire defined operation closes, there may be no realistic pool from which to select. GOV.UK recognises circumstances where an employee may be made redundant without a selection exercise because their job itself no longer exists.
Where the business is reducing numbers among employees doing the same or similar work, a fair selection approach will usually be important.
Redundancy pools
A selection pool identifies the employees from whom the required reduction will be made.
Acas recommends considering roles that are the same or similar and, where appropriate, roles requiring similar skills. Existing redundancy procedures, collective agreements and recognised trade-union arrangements should also be checked.
There is no rule that every pool must contain several employees. The correct pool depends on the organisation and the work affected.
The employer should nevertheless be able to explain why it chose the pool it did.
Selection criteria
Criteria should be relevant to what the business genuinely needs after the restructure and as objective as reasonably possible.
Possible criteria can include skills, qualifications, performance, disciplinary record and attendance. GOV.UK and Acas both recognise these as potentially appropriate considerations.
That does not make every use of those criteria safe.
Attendance data should not simply count disability-related, pregnancy or maternity absence. Acas specifically warns against doing so, and disability also engages separate Equality Act obligations including the duty to make reasonable adjustments.
Performance scoring should likewise be supported by genuine evidence wherever practicable. A redundancy process is a poor time to invent performance concerns that were never previously raised.
Evidence and scoring
Where scoring is used, keep a record showing how each score was reached.
Useful evidence might include existing appraisal records, objectively recorded performance information, qualifications, training records, disciplinary records or other reliable business data.
Apply the agreed criteria consistently across the relevant pool.
Employees should also normally have an opportunity during consultation to understand and, where appropriate, challenge the basis of their selection.
Step 4 — Start consultation
Consultation should begin before the employer has made the final redundancy decision.
The purpose is not simply to tell employees what has already been decided. Employees should have a genuine opportunity to understand the proposal, ask questions, comment on the selection approach, suggest alternatives and raise information the employer may not previously have considered.
Acas describes consultation as talking and listening to affected employees and states that genuine and meaningful consultation should take place before redundancy decisions are made.
For fewer than 20 proposed redundancies, there is no universal statutory minimum individual consultation period and no fixed number of meetings that every employer must hold. Acas recommends at least one private individual meeting, but the appropriate process will depend on the circumstances, complexity and any contractual or policy requirements.
A simple exercise may therefore require less consultation than a substantial restructure involving multiple pools, alternative structures and competing vacancies.
The test is whether consultation was genuinely capable of influencing the process.
A separate redundancy consultation guide will examine the consultation stage in greater detail.
Where a client wants Harrington Raine to do more than advise and prepare documentation, HR Consultancy & Meeting Support can also provide an experienced HR professional to chair or participate directly in internal consultation meetings where appropriate.
Step 5 — Consider alternatives
Consultation should include serious consideration of ways to avoid or reduce compulsory redundancies.
Depending on the circumstances, this might include redeployment, recruitment restrictions, voluntary redundancy, reduced hours, job sharing, reduced overtime or different organisational structures.
GOV.UK identifies a range of these measures as potential ways of avoiding compulsory redundancy.
An employer does not have to accept an alternative simply because an employee proposes it.
The business should, however, consider the proposal properly and be able to explain why it does or does not meet the business need.
Voluntary redundancy should also be treated carefully. An employee volunteering does not necessarily mean the employer must accept the application.
Step 6 — Consider suitable alternative employment
Employers should identify suitable vacancies that could prevent a redundancy dismissal.
Whether a role is suitable depends on factors such as the nature of the work, terms, pay, status, hours, location and the employee’s skills and circumstances.
Where an employee accepts suitable alternative employment, there is normally a statutory four-week trial period. A longer period can be agreed where retraining is required, provided the extension is agreed appropriately in writing.
An employee who unreasonably refuses an offer of suitable alternative employment may lose entitlement to statutory redundancy pay. That assessment is fact-sensitive: a role that appears suitable to the employer may not be suitable when the employee’s individual circumstances are considered.
Priority rights for protected employees
Particular care is required where an employee is pregnant or has taken certain forms of family-related leave.
Current redundancy protection means qualifying employees must be offered a suitable alternative vacancy, where one exists, in priority to other employees rather than being required to compete for it.
For pregnancy and maternity, protection can begin when the employee informs the employer of the pregnancy and extend until 18 months from the child’s birth. Extended protections also apply in specified circumstances following adoption leave and shared parental leave. Current Acas guidance also covers qualifying neonatal care leave and bereaved partner’s paternity leave.
This priority does not mean the employee cannot be included in a fair redundancy selection exercise. It concerns the treatment of suitable alternative vacancies where the statutory protection applies.
Step 7 — Reach the final decision
A final redundancy decision should be made only after the employer has properly considered consultation responses, selection issues and alternatives.
If an employee has challenged a score or produced relevant new information, deal with that before confirming the decision.
The final decision should be capable of being explained by reference to the business proposal and the process followed.
Employers should normally confirm the outcome in writing, explaining the redundancy decision, termination date, notice arrangements, payments and any appeal process.
Acas recommends offering an appeal where an employee believes they were selected unfairly or the redundancy process was not followed properly. An appeal is good practice rather than a universal statutory requirement, although the employer’s own contract, policy or collective arrangements may make one necessary.
Where the issue is not genuinely redundancy, consider whether dismissal advice for employers is the more appropriate route before proceeding.
Step 8 — Give notice and confirm payments
Notice should follow the completed consultation and selection process rather than being issued while the decision remains genuinely under consultation. Acas states that redundancy notice should only be given once consultation and selection have finished.
The statutory minimum notice is currently:
- at least one week where the employee has between one month and two years’ service;
- one week for each complete year of employment from two to 12 years; and
- 12 weeks for 12 years’ service or more.
Contractual notice may be longer and should be checked separately.
Employees with at least two years’ continuous service will normally qualify for statutory redundancy pay.
For dismissals on or after 6 April 2026, the statutory calculation currently uses a maximum week’s pay of £751, with a maximum statutory redundancy payment of £22,530. Service used in the calculation is capped at 20 years.
Employers can provide enhanced redundancy terms where appropriate, and contractual or collectively agreed schemes may require them.
Final payments should also deal correctly with matters such as accrued holiday, notice pay and any other contractual sums.
When do collective redundancy rules apply?
As at 9 September 2026, collective consultation is required where an employer proposes 20 or more redundancies at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less.
The employer must consult appropriate representatives — normally a recognised trade union or elected employee representatives — as well as dealing appropriately with individual consultation.
Consultation must start at least:
- 30 days before the first proposed dismissal where 20 to 99 redundancies are proposed; or
- 45 days before the first proposed dismissal where 100 or more are proposed.
The employer must also notify the Redundancy Payments Service using the HR1 process within the applicable 30- or 45-day period and before individual dismissal notices are issued.
Failure to comply with collective consultation obligations can now carry substantially greater financial exposure. For dismissals from 6 April 2026, the maximum protective award increased from 90 to 180 days’ pay for each affected employee.
Voluntary redundancies and employees who may ultimately be redeployed can still count when deciding whether collective consultation is triggered. Employers should therefore assess the number of proposed redundancies at the outset rather than only the number they expect ultimately to dismiss.
Employment Rights Act 2025 — future collective redundancy change
A further collective-redundancy reform has been enacted but is not yet in force.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 provides for an additional organisation-wide trigger so collective consultation can apply where a threshold number of redundancies are proposed across more than one establishment. The existing 20-at-one-establishment test will remain alongside it.
As at 9 September 2026, the organisation-wide threshold has not yet been set. The Government’s implementation timetable places this change in 2027, and consultation has considered how that threshold should operate. Employers should therefore continue to apply the current establishment-based test until the new provision is commenced.
Employees needing particular care
Redundancy decisions can create discrimination and automatically unfair dismissal risks even where the business rationale itself is genuine.
Take particular care with:
Pregnancy and family leave
Do not select an employee because of pregnancy, maternity or protected family leave, and check the enhanced suitable-alternative-vacancy rights described above.
Disability
A disabled employee must not be selected because of disability. Employers should also examine whether selection criteria place the employee at a disadvantage and whether reasonable adjustments are required.
Attendance scoring is an obvious risk area where disability-related absence has simply been included without thought.
Employees who are absent
Employees should not disappear from the process simply because they are away from the workplace.
Consider how to communicate meaningfully with employees who are absent through sickness, maternity or other leave, while respecting the circumstances of that absence.
Short-service employees
As at 9 September 2026, the general qualifying period for an ordinary unfair dismissal claim remains two years. That does not make short-service redundancies risk-free: discrimination, automatically unfair dismissal and some other statutory claims do not depend on the normal qualifying period.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 will reduce the ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027.
Common redundancy process mistakes
Many redundancy problems arise because an employer begins with the desired individual rather than the business change.
Common mistakes include:
- deciding who will leave before consultation begins;
- having no clear business rationale;
- choosing an artificially narrow selection pool;
- using subjective selection criteria that cannot be evidenced;
- relying on newly invented performance concerns;
- using attendance data without considering disability or family-related absence;
- treating consultation as an announcement rather than a genuine discussion;
- failing to consider realistic alternatives;
- overlooking suitable vacancies elsewhere in the organisation;
- assuming a genuine redundancy automatically makes the dismissal fair;
- failing to keep proper records; and
- using redundancy to disguise a misconduct, capability or relationship problem.
The safest approach is not to make the process artificially complicated. It is to make it structured, explainable and consistent.
Frequently asked questions
How many redundancy consultation meetings do we need?
There is no fixed number that applies to every individual redundancy process. Acas recommends meeting each affected employee privately at least once, but meaningful consultation may require further meetings depending on the issues raised and complexity of the proposal.
Is there a minimum individual redundancy consultation period?
No universal statutory minimum applies where the collective consultation regime is not triggered. Consultation must nevertheless be genuine and meaningful, and the employer should check its contracts, policies and collective agreements for additional requirements.
Can we use performance when selecting employees for redundancy?
Potentially, yes. Performance can be an appropriate criterion, but it should be relevant to the future business need and supported by reliable evidence. Avoid creating retrospective assessments simply to justify a preferred outcome.
Can we use absence as a redundancy criterion?
Potentially, but with considerable care. Acas specifically states that attendance criteria should not include absences related to disability, pregnancy or maternity. Other protected leave and discrimination issues may also require adjustment or exclusion.
Does every redundancy need a selection pool?
No. A pool may be unnecessary where a genuinely unique role disappears or an entire defined operation closes. Where numbers are being reduced among employees performing the same or similar work, a defensible pool becomes much more important.
Can an employee refuse an alternative job?
Yes. If the role is not suitable or the employee has a reasonable basis for refusing it, statutory redundancy pay may remain due. An employee who unreasonably refuses genuinely suitable alternative employment may lose that entitlement.
Can we recruit after making an employee redundant?
Yes, where there is a genuine later requirement or the new vacancy is materially different. Recruiting shortly afterwards into essentially the same role may, however, call the original redundancy rationale into question. Keep a clear record of what changed and why.
What records should we keep?
Keep sufficient records to explain the process: the business rationale, proposed structures, affected roles, pool reasoning, selection criteria, supporting evidence, scoring, consultation correspondence and notes, alternatives considered, vacancies, final decisions and any appeals.
There is no advantage in creating unnecessary paperwork. The objective is to preserve the evidence needed to show how and why decisions were made.
For further practical employer guidance, see our HR & Employment Law resources.